Seed-separating machine



J. M. BLOCKER. Seed Separating Machine.

O. 8 8 O m 3 l.. V. m o e m N n im d e w M .M 31m m. m 551m, m om :zm y@5, lm m n an IMI m 55m m f Il me M m M mm nz m l M m M xmmmmmwhnyywwwm|wmnlhmwulfm m U.. :l m m l m im O 6 m x o o 4 :iN E 9 :imn o E M a 2 a E m N l 4 W (No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT EETCE.

JAMES M. BLOCKER, OF BROOKSTON, TEXAS.

SEED-SEPARATING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 234,946, dated November30, 1880.

Application filed June 29, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom yLt may concern Be it known that I, JAMES M. BLOCKER,

of Brookston, Lamar county, Texas, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Seed-Separating Machines, of which the following'is aspecication.

My invention is more especially designed to grind the fruit of theOsage-orange tree and separate the seed from the pulp, the seed beingthe only valued part, the pulp beinginedible; but the machine may alsobe used for separating and recovering the seed of any simi.- lar pulpyfruit, whether edible or not.

In the machines heretofore made for separating and recoveringOsage-orange seed the pulp or fruit is ground with water in a tub havingpegs projecting from its sides,in which a cylinder with projectingintermediate pegs revolves and tears or grinds the fruit, the groundfruit or pomace being removed therefrom by hand to a trough, where it iswashed by the i'low ot' water and the action of the hand, so as toseparate the seed from the pulp, the seed falling through the perforatedbottom of' the trough into an under trough, where it accumulates, whilethe larger part of the pulp is thrown out of the upper trough by hand,or is carried away with the water.

My invention aims to provide a machine for this purpose in which thegrinding and separating actions will be performed continuously and in amore automatic manner, dispensing with the work of the hand, requiring aless amount of water, and at the same time performing the grinding andseparating actions in a more rapid and perfect manner.

In the annexed drawings, Figure l presents a vertical sectionalelevation ot my improved machine. Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view on theline x x, Fig. l.

The frame of the machine is indicated by a a., and is of uprightrectangular form, and is preferably made of wood. The grinding portionot the machine is arranged in the top of the frame, and consists of axed disk, h, having its under side formed with a conical or concaverecess, which is studded with a number of projecting pins or teeth, b.Below this xed disk is arranged a rota-ting disk, c, having a conical orconvex face to correspond with the recess ofthe upper disk, and alsostudded with projecting pins b b, which, when the disk revolves, meshwith the pins ot' the txed disk, and thus produce an energetic tearingor grinding` action upon any material introduced hetween the disks.

The teeth or pins at the center ot' the disk are larger and set widerapart than those at the outer portion, and they are set in a slightlyspiral or screw direction upon the disks, so as to tend to work theground material outward in a more positive mannert The lower orrevolving disk, c, is mounted on a spindle, d, whose lower end issupported in a bearing on the central cross-bar otthe frame, while itsupper part extends through a central opening in the fixed grinding-disk7L, and is supported in a bearingin the top crossbar ofthe frame, and isalso terminated with a pulley, e, by which power is applied to themachine. An opening,f, is formed through the upper disk, 7L, on one sideofthe spindle, through which osage fruit orother material to be groundis inserted between the two disks, and the disks are separated thedistance of about one inch, or suflicient to permit the easy liiassageof the ground fruit between them. Near the lower edge ofthe upper disk aring, l, extends out\ Yardaboutfourinches beyond the grindingdisks, andfrom its periphery a circular rim, m, extendsdownward to about thebottom ot` the lower disk. This rim serves to dellect and arrest theground pulp as it is thrown outward centrifugally from thegrinding-disks, and also acts to direct the ground pulp downward in anannular drip at a point beyond the range ot' the rotating disk c and itsdriving-spindle. Below the rim m, near the bottom ofthe fra-me, is xed apan, u, which is somewhat larger than the rim, and which catches theground pulp or pomace as it falls from the rim. The bottom of this panis perforated with a number of holes, each about one-halt' inch indiameter, and it is placed over a trough, o, which extends some distancefrom the base of the machine. A spindle, p, in line with the mainspindle d, extends into the pan, and is `journaled at its lower end inthe center ofthe pan, and provided with four or more radialstirring-arms, s, which revolve closely over the pert'orations in thebottom of the pan. This stirring-spindle is driven, pref- ICO erably bygearing from the main spindle d, so as to revolve at about half thespeed of the main spindle, as shown in Fig. 1.

The machine when set in motion operates as follows: The osage oranges orother inaterial to be ground are fed through the opening of the upperdisk between the two disks, together with a small quantity of water,which is preferably allowed to constantly trickle in a small stream intothe feed-opening. The fruit is now rapidly groundor torngby theintermeshing teeth of the disk, the water assisting in the grinding andserving to keep the disks clean, and also assisting by its centrifugalforce the travel of the fruit outward. The ground fruit and water arethrown centrifugally from the disks, and, striking the deflectin'g-rimm, fall downward in an annular drip into the pan n, from which thegreater portion of the water passes into the underlying trough throughthe perforations of the pan, and a por tion inds aregulated escape,together wit-h the ner and lighter portions ofthe pulp, under theadjustable gate t, with which the pan is provided, and which mayberaised more or less, as required. The stirring-arms s catch the largerpieces ofthe pulp with their adhering seed and force the same throughthe perforarions of the pan with a further tearing action, whicheffectually tends to further separate the seed, and the pulp and seedthen drop into the trough u, in which the water accumulates to a gooddepth. The seed now gravitates to the bottom of the trough and thereaccumulates, while the pulp floats oli' with the slowly-moving currentof water and is discharged at thc end of the trough. When sufcient seedhas accumulated in the trough it may be removed and dried, and is thenlit for preservation.

It may be observed that by this machine the fruit is ground andthe seedseparated and accumulated and the pulp discharged in an automaticmanner, and this is furthermore carried on in a rapid and continuousmanner without requiring the action of the hand, and

without such a waste of water as former meth ods have required, thuspresenting several advantages in favor of my invention.

What I claim as my invention is 1. In a seed-separating machinesubstantially such as described, the combination of a grinding deviceplaced in the upper part of the machine, a perforated receiving-panarranged below and receiving the ground material directly therefrom, andan accumulatin g-trough arranged under the said perforated pan, with astirring device integralwith the machine and operating simultaneouslywith the grinder to stir or agitate the ground material in the said panand force it through the perforations thereof into theaccumulating-trough below, whereby the grinding and separating areperformed simultaneously and continuously in the same machine,substantially as herein set forth. i

2. The combination, in a machine of substantially the kind described,ot' the grinding disks or cones It c, formed with intermeshing teeth ontheir approaching faces, the one disk revolving while the other remainsstationary, with the annular detlecting-rim m, surround ing the diskslaterally at a suitable distance from their centrifugally-dischargi ngedges and depending below the same, substantially as and for the purposeherein set forth.

3. The combination of the fixed grindingdisk L and rotary grinding-diskc, having intermeshing teeth on their approaching faces and acentrifugal discharge, with the deiiecting-rim m, surrounding anddepending therefrom, the underlying perforated recei\f'ingpan n, rotarystirring-arms s, revolving therein, and accumulating-trongh o, arrangedand operating substantially as and for the purpose herein shown anddescribed.

JAS. M. BLOCKER.

